Former world champion-turned-coach Non Stanford shares her go-to run sessions for the winter...
01 THESLR
Welcome to the Church of the Sunday Long Run. A staple of any runner’s week: just basic mileage at a conversational pace. Run with friends, a podcast, or your dog – whatever works, but just remember this one’s not about running fast. Build up the mileage gradually. Eventually you should be running for at least an hour to become a true member of the cult.
02 THE BUILD RUN
A great way to build fitness over the winter so you’re race-ready by the summer. Start by breaking the main body of a build run into three sections based on perceived effort. Section 1: 5/10. Section 2: 6/10. 3: 7/10. Roughly each section should be 10secs/km quicker than the previous, but you should always finish a build run feeling like you could do more. Start with a 15min build, with 5mins spent at each effort level. Increase this week on week by 1-5mins per section. The ultimate build run is 60mins… if you’re brave enough!
03 THETEMPO
The term ‘tempo’ means different things to different people, but in this instance it’s that sweet spot of a pace you feel like you could hold ‘forever’, with forever being 45-60mins. It’s about 6/10 on the effort level scale. Start with 20mins and build by 5-10mins each week. To help pace it, turn around halfway through and try to get back to your start point. Knowing you have to make it back will hopefully stop you from going off too hard.
04 THE HILL STRIDES
The winter months are all about building strength so that you’re ready for the rigours of racing – cue hills! You’ll need a decent gradient hill, although not one that requires walking poles to summit. Rep length can be anything from 15-60secs, jogging back down to recover. Strides should be fast but controlled; concentrate on running with good form. Try three sets of 60secs, 45secs, 30secs, 15secs. This can be done indoors by adjusting the gradient on the treadmill.
05 THE KENYAN HILLS
Kenyans are famed for training on rolling dirt roads and it’s fabled for making them efficient and strong. The main difference between ‘Kenyan hills’ and a normal hill session is that the downhill is not a recovery; you’re instead looking to maintain the same effort, similar to that of a tempo run. Find a hilly loop, or a long steady climb and aim for 20-30mins of continuous running. You can break this down into more manageable chunks if needed, for example: 5 x 5mins
